while the eyes of the world are focused
on the impact kovat 19 is having on
human health and economies
conservationists are calling for more
attention to be paid to our closest
relatives in the animal kingdom great
apes if it's given a chance to jump over
to them our newest human virus can wipe
out an entire species
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and while lockdowns have become almost
inevitable for humans for great apes
they mean indirect threats that could
even amplify the immediate impact of
Kovach 19 all four great ape species
gorillas chimpanzees bonobos and
orangutans have experienced considerable
decline in population size and range
over the past few decades
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the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
lists all the great apes as either
endangered or critically endangered the
top three threats are habitat loss
poaching and infectious diseases all
great apes share about 98% of their DNA
with us they also share susceptibility
to several human pathogens in the past
research has shown that chimps can
contract the common cold and the Ebola
virus is thought to have killed
thousands of chimpanzees and gorillas in
Africa international wildlife health
specialists suggest that we should
assume all great apes are susceptible to
the SARS cough - virus in other words
great apes are currently at even greater
risk than normal for decades national
parks and wildlife sanctuaries have
played a crucial role in protecting
these endangered species their
groundbreaking work has helped the
numbers of great apes to remain constant
or even increase as in the case of
mountain gorillas
about half of the world's remaining
population of mountain gorillas lives in
the dense vegetation of Uganda's Burundi
impenetrable forest National Park and
the other half in three national parks
in the Virunga mountains the United
conservation efforts of the four parks
in these areas helped to pull the
species back from the brink of
extinction
the total population currently stands at
1063 individuals chimpanzees are our
closest relatives but over the last
century their population decreased
dramatically until it hit its low point
around the 1970s
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since then though chimpanzee numbers
have been growing incrementally at a
rate of a few thousand a year nowadays
numbers are estimated at between a
hundred and thirty thousand and three
hundred thousands this kind of growth
can be attributed to intensive
conservation efforts like the ones in
Kabbalah National Park in southeastern
Uganda the country's biggest population
of chimpanzees lives here in the wild
but with many countries now on lockdown
kovat 19 has dealt a major blow to the
wildlife conservation and protection
activities of the national parks and
sanctuaries that rely on revenue from
ecotourism one sanctuary that has been
hit extremely hard is in gamba Island
chimpanzee sanctuary located on Lake
Victoria for more than 20 years in gamba
Island has been a safe haven for chimps
that can't live in the wild anymore
fifty chimps that were orphaned or
rescued from the illegal wildlife trade
currently live here in a controlled
captive environment
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since the gates of the sanctuary had to
close a smaller staff is now working a
twenty day shift which is twice as long
than before they isolate on the island
during their shift to reduce the risk of
infection and they film the following
insights like a mas the staff have to
wear overalls gloves and masks but
there's a shortage of masks in the
country and the sanctuary needs to make
its limited stock last as long as
possible
sometimes even gloves run out or are too
expensive for the sanctuary to afford
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for the first 10 days of their shift the
staff have to wear a full personal
protective equipment
only when they're sure that they aren't
displaying any symptoms of the disease
can they limit the use of masks and
gloves the internal enclosures are
thoroughly scrubbed with soap every day
and while they were disinfected with
bleach every week since the outbreak the
staff have started disinfecting them
every two to three days they'd like to
do so daily but as the sanctuary is no
longer receiving any income from tourism
they simply can't afford to this scene
was filmed before COBIT 19:00 since then
all kinds of direct contact have been
suspended like direct feeding behavioral
training and research or birthday
parties
luckily a chimps day is mostly the same
as it was before kovat 19 their keepers
try hard not to disrupt their routine
the chimps typically wake up at daybreak
and start pants hooting and greeting
each other about an hour later they're
released into the forest
while the chimps were in there overnight
enclosure the vets and keepers made
their daily observations while other
keepers check the outdoor enclosure
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for the staff it's time to prepare
breakfast the chimpanzees are fed four
times a day
first breakfast then a mid-morning feed
followed by mid-afternoon feeding and
finally dinner in the evening it's
mostly fruit and vegetables on the menu
out in the forest they do what chimps do
until feeding is on the schedule
the chimps appear on time in the feeding
area of their external enclosure when
the keepers arrive with their well
stocked buckets
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the forest itself can provide enough
food for them at only 38 Hector's it's
too small 450 shrimpanzees in the wild a
group this size would need at least five
times this area of natural forest so the
chimps on in gamba Island depend a lot
on the food from their caretakers in the
evening the chimps return to their
sleeping enclosure their dinner is a
piece of cabbage and a millet porridge
fortified with soy $4,000 is the annual
cost of food and medical care for one
chimp and now that there are no tourists
the sanctuary is relying on donations
more than ever before it's a very
uncertain time for the animals as well
as the staff situations like that are
worrying conservationists a lot at this
time with tourists staying at home and
conservation based ecotourism on hold
the whole system of protecting wildlife
and encouraging local people to step
back from exploiting nature could be
beginning to totter
we spoke to Peter a pal from Uganda's
Jane Goodall Institute med then
conservation for the last ticket or half
a century by various organizations
including the Gentiles working with
communities working with government to
ensure that habitats that have been
previously degraded a restaurant
communities that rely on one life given
alternatives and incentives not to do so
education and awareness being conducted
to try and change knowledge attitudes
and practices this investment has been
huge
our concern is that with his probably
mighty loud break this potential
reversal in this despite the great
effort that has been done by many
organizations another effect of the
lockdown is that there are too few
Rangers out
field so is it just a question of time
until illegal activities start having an
effect yes definitely we are beginning
to get reports trickling in where people
going in and hunting cutting trees
especially and this concerns us because
the lockdown now like I said in Gander
has been instituted for the last six or
so weeks and we envision that this is
going to extend it may seem like a
fairly short period of time but it
doesn't take six weeks for somebody to
cut one tree perhaps five or 100 animals
it just takes a day and if they are out
there doing their best when Trump this
is where the biggest worry lies the more
people that enter the forests are
noticed the higher the risk that the
virus will be spread to great apes in my
personal experience treating chimpanzees
I find that respiratory infections have
actually been the hardest for us to
manage when I just started my work over
20 years ago I was watching in a captive
environment and the most difficult cases
that I had was treating respiratory
infection in the chimpanzee population
in captivity now it got to a while
situation once virus jumps into the wild
population it is very hard to manage we
do not absolutely want an instance where
we have to even attempt to try and treat
them because we're going to be
successful for the great apes it's an
uphill struggle that's taking place in
national parks sanctuaries and other
conservation organizations all over
Africa it's a battle against the virus
itself but also against its impact on
the fragile ecosystem that safeguards
these species
if lockdowns persists for months the
consequences could be devastating for
the already endangered eight population
and the communities around them if you'd
like to help please stay informed and do
consider donating if you can you'll find
all the information you need in the
description below
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